How long do puppies keep their puppy license?

[Stacy]

So Willow is 18 weeks now and she's growing so fast! I swear I can see her growing! She was questionably taller than Katie when she got here, but now there's no question. And the collar I put on her was too big, but now not so much. 

So, she and Maggie play very rousing games of chase me, no I'll chase you. And they both seem to be having fun. No problem there. Willow is still smaller than Maggie and Maggie plays hard, but seems pretty indulgent. 

The question is about when they're inside. Willow likes to pull Maggie's ears. And sometimes Maggie gives a little whine. I don't want Willow to hurt her. I know Maggie is fully capable of telling Willow no. I do intervene, but they just go right back to doing it. Should I work harder on getting Willow to stop, or should I just let them work it out themselves? I have always had dogs that got along well. I want these girls to continue having a good time together. I'm not sure how much to interfere with their interaction.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd leave them alone. If Maggie is fully capable of telling Willow "no", let her do that. She will do it when she's had enough, either with a correction or by removing herself from the game. No matter how submissive she may be by nature, or how much license she giving the puppy, she is not going to allow herself to be hurt when she has the ability to prevent it. Interference on your part can change the dynamic of the relationship between the two of them. 

[Stacy]

I don't even think Maggie is really that submissive with other dogs. I think she has good dog manners and is letting the puppy get away with things because she's a puppy. That's a real thing, right? Puppies get more leeway to be naughty for a while? I just look at Willow sometimes, and tell her that her license is going to expire and when it does I hope Maggie doesn't kill her for doing that. 

Poor Mags. I keep combing the slobber and tangles and loose hair out of her ears. Her ears are still there. Willow hasn't ripped them off of her yet. I really appreciate Maggie helping me keep this baby worn out. It makes a huge difference after they've run and run and run. Willow is snoozing on the couch for her morning nap. This morning she was a whirling dervish of stop, stop, no, don't do that, that hurts! chew the toy not my nose. And now she's a good girl again.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

It depends on the adult dog sounds like Maggie is more puppy tolerant than most  :)  some won't even greet puppies or just immediately tell them off for approaching.

Riley has a crazy time every morning still at 8 months.. sorry to tell you the end isn't in sight anytime soon lol.

[Stacy]

Well, Maggie's only 2 so I think she still has some puppy play in her. Katie's 4 and she's not afraid to tell the puppy to knock it off. She's very appropriate though. She warns her and the puppy seems to respect it. I really love watching them interact and communicate. It's fascinating.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I do think that most older dogs give puppies license to be puppies. Those who don't also don't usually engage in much play with them, they simply avoid them. 

Maggie won't kill her when she revokes that license, lol.

[Stacy]

Willow is really a good puppy. I think she's going to be wonderful. I don't want to be premature, but even housebreaking is going better than expected. I know she's not a tiny puppy, but you just never know. Everything else is easier when you're not on your hands and knees cleaning up puppy pee.

Even the fact that we were up at 5:30 because I worked yesterday and she didn't get enough exercise is easier. We took a nap on the couch and she didn't even pee on the floor while I was asleep. I don't know how people work 5 days a week with a puppy. Two days is hard enough, and my mom has been coming over while I'm working to let her out. It's just not the same as when I'm here and she has all day to get the crazies out. I had forgotten how hard those first few months were when Katie was a puppy and didn't want to sleep when I got home from work. She ended up going to daycare. 

I know some people think I'm crazy for having three, but I don't think it's any crazier or harder than having three human children. I think three is the limit for real. The bed will be full, but so is my heart. We just felt short one dog over here. Willow was meant to be with me. I'm in puppy heaven.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

So glad you are enjoying her so much :) 

At least baby dogs usually sleep through the night lol.  In the land of no-sleep over here with my son going through a growth spurt at 11 weeks.  Riley sighs pretty loudly from her crate sometimes when baby wakes her at night :p

3 dogs in general is a lot, especially with grooming if they are doodles.  Unsure if we will want a dog with a high maintenance coat next time around.  We were spoiled with Luna :p

[Stacy]

I don't even pretend that puppies are as much work as tiny little humans! I don't know how you survive the sleep deprivation. At least I can put Willow in a crate and put ear plugs in if things get desperate. 

I'm really really hoping that Willow has a do it yourself coat. I promised myself that I wouldn't have three dogs who needed to go to the groomer. But as much as I tried to want a short haired dog, I just couldn't do it. I just love fluffy dogs. I think there are fluffy dogs who aren't so high maintenance though. The papillons had long hair and never needed professional grooming. For having all that hair, they were still pretty wash and wear. Ava only needed a little grooming help too. I was able to keep her combed, and took her in for face, feet, and fanny once in a while. It's the curls that I struggle with. So many curls. And the girls, with all their poodle have hair that grows really fast. Ava didn't. She just had this long straightish shag, and she loved it when we layed on the couch combing. The trade off was that she did shed some. But it wasn't a bad trade.

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

When we were puppy hunting we considered some herding breeds like border collies, decided they were probably too high energy for our lifestyle.  I don't think DH would ever want a dog as small as a papillon, Luna was probably about as small as he would go at 35-40 lbs.  Riley is 60 lbs already and he grumbles he wishes she were larger... really!? Lol.  With all the fluff she easily looks over 80 lbs and is strong as an ox with her sturdy Bernese bones :p

[Stacy]

Border Collies in particular are a breed that I look at and think they are smarter than I am and I could never stimulate their brains or bodies enough to be fair to them. Another breed like that is the Belgian Malinois. I met one, and he was such a cool dog. But he had (and needed) an owner who didn't let him get away with anything. I'm too soft for that dog. 

I think it's interesting that people think doodles are really high energy and put them in that same category. I don't think mine are particularly high energy. Just normal. The border collies are in a class all of their own. The German Shorthair Pointers fall in that category for me too. Those dogs just need to run and run. My dogs are total couch potatoes next to that. 

I really like the Old English Sheepdogs. I also met an Italian Spinone at training class and adore him. Same with the Deerhounds (but their life expectancy is so short I just can't.) I'm going to need to live to be 1000 to have all the dogs I want. I'm really enjoying the big dogs too. I loved my papillons, but potty training problems are a real thing. I think there are small dog breeds that are known for being cleaner in the house than the paps. But otherwise they're kind of like a big dog in a small package. Have you seen the agility those guys do? They're amazing! I just love dogs. I wish I could get paid to play with dogs instead of doing my real job!

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

A lot of people guess that Riley is a sheepdog, I can see why if it weren't for the colour:p

A neighbor had a husky/border collie mix (a rescue born in a crack house) and she was very, very smart but extremely challenging.  He worked full time and she chewed through a door while he was at work one day out of boredom...a dog like that really needs someone who is home at least part of the day to really tire them out.

I think my ideal dog size is about 50 lbs, but I'm ok 20 lbs or so on either side of that.  I guess I am a medium sized dog lover ;) my childhood dog (a bichon) was 14 lbs and she always felt too small to really play with the way I wanted to.  She was really good on the housetraining which I know not all small dogs are.  She was very smart too and knew lots of tricks but of  course tricks are what bichons were bred for ;)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I seriously thought about getting a Spinone. I joined a club and talked personally to several members/owners. I came away from it understanding that I cannot provide enough of the kind of exercise these dogs need. All exercise is not created equal. There are some breeds that need field work. Throwing a ball for them interests them about as much as watching someone play golf would interest me, lol. 
They did suggest a PBGV, though, and I went to visit a breeder who had a litter planned. Cutest dogs in the world. But this was a very good breeder who gave prospective buyers a packet of handouts, and after reading about certain traits (digging and baying stand out in my mind, along with length of time needed for housetraining and the prospect of having a dog who could never in his lifetime ever be allowed outside off-leash), I decided to stay inside my comfort zone, lol. 
Border Collies are not house pets and were never intended to be. Neither were Belgina Malinois, for a whole lot of other reasons. I don't care how much someone loves dogs or how experienced they are with dogs, there are some breeds that are still going to be just too much dog for the situation.